What are the blockers to true education transformation with Prof Sara de Freitas (#348)
About this episode
Ben and Steve discuss education transformation with Prof Sara de Freitas, covering immersive learning, curriculum issues, and the impact of AI in education.
In this episode, Ben and Steve sit down with Professor Sara de Freitas for an extended conversation following their meeting at the Brilliant Festival in Liverpool. It's a wide-ranging discussion about immersive learning, the bloated curriculum, serious games, assessment reform, and why the UK's response to AI in education has been so fractured.Sara is one of the few people to have led at every level of education. She's an international researcher in digital technologies who set up three research labs, including the Serious Games Institute at Coventry University. She's served as Deputy Vice Chancellor in both Australia and the UK, ran the largest school in the UK during lockdown (including a separate provision for excluded children), and is currently a governor at the University of Sunderland. In June 2024 she founded Waypoint, building immersive, co-designed classroom tools with teachers and partners including the UK Space Agency. We cover: - Why universities pivoted seamlessly during COVID while primary schools struggled, and what that reveals about infrastructure and mindset- The "bloated curriculum" problem: too much content, not enough time for skills, creativity…
More episodes of Edufuturists
- Is your school already breaking the law? EU AI Act, Deepfakes & AI Literacy w/ Matthew Wemyss (#353)
- Is youth unemployment a crisis? with Alex Levit and Stephanie Loeck (#352)
- Blowing up the PX Pipeline with Stephen Steinhaus (#351)
- How AI is for more than just teachers and students in education with Chris Loveday (#350)
- What if the lessons that look most like play are actually the most serious teaching happening in your school? with Shahneila Saeed
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Edufuturists podcast page.